Barron’s SAT I Basic Word List
rapt ADJ. /迷住的;全神 注的贯 /absorbed; enchanted. Caught up in the wonder of the storyteller's tale, the rapt
listeners sat motionless, hanging on his every word.
rarefied ADJ. /稀 释( 气体)/made less dense (of a gas]. The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the
rarefied atmosphere. rarefy,V.
raspy ADJ. /刺耳的;焦躁的/grating; harsh. The sergeant's raspy voice grated on the recruits' ears.
ratify V. /批准,认可/approve formally; confirm; verify. Party leaders doubted that they had enough votes in
both houses of Congress to ratify the constitutional amendment.
ratiocination N. / 推 理 ; 推 论 /reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises. While Watson was a
man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb
detective.
rationale N. / 基 础科 学 ;基 本 原理 /fundamental reason or justification; grounds for an action. Her need to have
someplace to hang her earring collection was Dora's rationale for piercing fifteen holes in each ear.
rationalize V. /合理化/give a plausible reason for an action in place of a true, less admirable one; offer an excuse.
When David told gabby Gabrielle he couldn't give her a ride to the dance because he had no room in
the car, he was rationalizing; actually, he couldn't stand being cooped up in a car with anyone who
talked as much as she did.
raucous ADJ. /沙 的哑 /harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous. The raucous crowd of New Year's Eve revelers
got progressively noisier as midnight drew near.
rave N. /咆哮/overwhelmingly favorable review. Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say
about most contemporary plays, his review of All in the Timing was a total rave.
ravel V. /使混乱;解开混乱,解决混乱/fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle. A single thread pulled
loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.
ravenous ADJ. /饥饿的/extremely hungry. The ravenous dog upset several garbage pails in its search for food.
raze V. / 彻 底 摧 毁 /destroy completely. Spelling is important: to raise a building is to put it up; to raze a
building is to tear it down.
reactionary ADJ. / 反 作 用 的 /recoiling from progress; politically ultraconservative. Opposing the use of English in
worship services, reactionary forces in the church fought to reinstate the mass in Latin.
realm N. /领域/kingdom; field or sphere. In the animal realm, the lion is the king of beasts.
reaper N. / 收 割 者 ; 收 割 机 /one who harvests grain. Death, the Grim Reaper, cuts down mortal men and
women, just as a farmer cuts down the ripened grain. reap,V.
rebuff V. /回绝/snub; beat back. She rebuffed his invitation so smoothly that he did not realize he had been
snubbed. also N.
rebuke V. /严厉批评;猛烈的训斥/scold harshly; criticize severely. No matter how sharply Miss Watson rebuked
Huck for his misconduct, he never talked back but just stood there like a stump. also N.
rebuttal N. / 斥;举反驳 证/refutation; response with contrary evidence. The defense lawyer confidently listened
to the prosecutor sum up his case, sure that she could answer his arguments in her rebuttal.
recalcitrant ADJ. /反抗的;顽抗的/obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly. Which animal do you
think is more recalcitrant, a pig or a mule?
recant V. /放弃;宣布放弃/disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error. Those who
can, keep true to their faith; those who can't, recant. Hoping to make Joan of Arc recant her sworn
testimony, her English captors tried to convince her that her visions had been sent to her by the Devil.
recapitulate V. /概括;总结/summarize. Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.
recast V. /重建/reconstruct (a sentence, story, etc.); fashion again. Let me recast this sentence in terms your
feeble brain can grasp: in words of one syllable, you are a fool.
receptive ADJ. /善于接受的/quick or willing to receive ideas, suggestions, etc. Adventure-loving Huck Finn proved
a receptive audience for Tom's tales of buried treasure and piracy.
recession N. / 撤 退 /withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity. The slow recession of the flood waters
created problems for the crews working to restore power to the area. recede,V.
recidivism N. /累犯;惯犯/habitual return to crime. Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high
109